McDonnell Boehnen Hulbert & Berghoff
A Full Day at INTA
May 17, 2011
by David Krell
david@davidkrell.com
Strategic Personal Branding For Today’s Trademark Lawyer. That was the title of my workshop with moderator extraordinaire Jim McCarthy of McDonnell Boehnen Hulbert & Berghoff and co-panelists Deb Knupp of Akina and Paul Reidl, a.k.a. The Wine Lawyer. We played to a packed house of more than 100 attendees.
Jim began the session by highlighting one of the best executed brand strategies -- Be Like Mike. Music with an African-inspired beat provided the undercurrent for a Gatorade commercial highlighting Michael Jordan’s fantastic exploits on the basketball court combined with footage of everyday folks who, indeed, want to be like Mike.
It’s a great lesson in personal branding and, of course, the slogan’s alliteration helps. The lesson is simple: Define your brand and execute it. Here, if you drink Gatorade, you will achieve Michael Jordan’s excellence.
The executing part of the branding strategy usually provides the biggest challenge.
Deb talked about strategies to overcome those challenges, including an exercise where you fill in the blanks of the following sentence: I (action verb) for (target market). It’s a simple exercise, but very effective.
I followed up with some media strategies culled from my years of experience as an attorney, writer, television news writer and producer, and conference producer. For example, I suggested that attorneys build credentials by writing for legal journals and speaking at legal association events, like the INTA Annual Meeting. Then, attorneys can expand their media presence by writing for publications that target clients.
I used the United-Continental merger as an example. If one of the airlines goes by the wayside with its trademarks -- logo and name -- permanently retired, the valuation of the trademarks in the good will category could be good fodder for publications targeting the aerospace market.
Paul anchored our presentation with a personal story. At the height of the recession (or depth of it, as the case may be), Paul started his own law firm on February 1, 2009. Despite the detractors, and there were many, Paul cultivated his 30 years of experience to form his brand -- The Wine Lawyer. Prominently in his strategy wheel is the social media spoke.
I aimed to celebrate with friends at the A’s game. But the weather proved too miserable for the group to make the trek to the Oakland Coliseum. So, I took up Jim on his invitation to MBHB’s party at the Irish Bank. Although the INTA Annual Meeting attracted about 9,000 attendees this year, it really is a small world. At the Irish Bank, I ran into Brian Daniel, my task force leader last year. Under his aegis, I produced the most successful workshop at the 2010 INTA Annual Meeting in Boston. My legal writing workshop drew about 160 people.
I also saw Alan Kaufman and Sunita Koneru, both veteran attendees of the INTA Annual Meeting. I first met them last year at a cocktail party.
Now, I’m up at dawn to recap yesterday’s events and getting ready for another day.
david@davidkrell.com
Strategic Personal Branding For Today’s Trademark Lawyer. That was the title of my workshop with moderator extraordinaire Jim McCarthy of McDonnell Boehnen Hulbert & Berghoff and co-panelists Deb Knupp of Akina and Paul Reidl, a.k.a. The Wine Lawyer. We played to a packed house of more than 100 attendees.
Jim began the session by highlighting one of the best executed brand strategies -- Be Like Mike. Music with an African-inspired beat provided the undercurrent for a Gatorade commercial highlighting Michael Jordan’s fantastic exploits on the basketball court combined with footage of everyday folks who, indeed, want to be like Mike.
It’s a great lesson in personal branding and, of course, the slogan’s alliteration helps. The lesson is simple: Define your brand and execute it. Here, if you drink Gatorade, you will achieve Michael Jordan’s excellence.
The executing part of the branding strategy usually provides the biggest challenge.
Deb talked about strategies to overcome those challenges, including an exercise where you fill in the blanks of the following sentence: I (action verb) for (target market). It’s a simple exercise, but very effective.
I followed up with some media strategies culled from my years of experience as an attorney, writer, television news writer and producer, and conference producer. For example, I suggested that attorneys build credentials by writing for legal journals and speaking at legal association events, like the INTA Annual Meeting. Then, attorneys can expand their media presence by writing for publications that target clients.
I used the United-Continental merger as an example. If one of the airlines goes by the wayside with its trademarks -- logo and name -- permanently retired, the valuation of the trademarks in the good will category could be good fodder for publications targeting the aerospace market.
Paul anchored our presentation with a personal story. At the height of the recession (or depth of it, as the case may be), Paul started his own law firm on February 1, 2009. Despite the detractors, and there were many, Paul cultivated his 30 years of experience to form his brand -- The Wine Lawyer. Prominently in his strategy wheel is the social media spoke.
I aimed to celebrate with friends at the A’s game. But the weather proved too miserable for the group to make the trek to the Oakland Coliseum. So, I took up Jim on his invitation to MBHB’s party at the Irish Bank. Although the INTA Annual Meeting attracted about 9,000 attendees this year, it really is a small world. At the Irish Bank, I ran into Brian Daniel, my task force leader last year. Under his aegis, I produced the most successful workshop at the 2010 INTA Annual Meeting in Boston. My legal writing workshop drew about 160 people.
I also saw Alan Kaufman and Sunita Koneru, both veteran attendees of the INTA Annual Meeting. I first met them last year at a cocktail party.
Now, I’m up at dawn to recap yesterday’s events and getting ready for another day.
INTA Writing Workshop: Mission Accomplished
May 24, 2010
by David Krell
david@davidkrell.com
They came. They laughed. They learned.
After scores of conference calls, emails, and revisions to our respective PowerPoint presentations, Effective Legal Writing Workshop is in the INTA history books.
With humor, practical examples, and an engaging approach with the audience of approximately 170, our panel enjoyed a lively response.
I began with a general exercise to engage the audience. We broke up into small groups to answer this question: Why is legal writing important? Give your top three reasons.
Bob Latham talked about going beyond the form file, striking the word ‘clearly’ from drafts, and avoiding using superfluous words. Kelly Slavitt talked about the importance of language in cease and desist letters and license agreements. Joff Wild talked about the strategies that lawyers can use to effectively communicate with the media.
But there’s no resting on laurels. Jim McCarthy of McDonnell Boehnen Hulbert & Berghoff is coordinating workshops for the 2011 INTA Annual Meeting. Last week, Jim invited me to speak. He sat through this morning’s workshop and, immediately after it ended, we began brainstorming about my topic for 2011.
david@davidkrell.com
They came. They laughed. They learned.
After scores of conference calls, emails, and revisions to our respective PowerPoint presentations, Effective Legal Writing Workshop is in the INTA history books.
With humor, practical examples, and an engaging approach with the audience of approximately 170, our panel enjoyed a lively response.
I began with a general exercise to engage the audience. We broke up into small groups to answer this question: Why is legal writing important? Give your top three reasons.
Bob Latham talked about going beyond the form file, striking the word ‘clearly’ from drafts, and avoiding using superfluous words. Kelly Slavitt talked about the importance of language in cease and desist letters and license agreements. Joff Wild talked about the strategies that lawyers can use to effectively communicate with the media.
But there’s no resting on laurels. Jim McCarthy of McDonnell Boehnen Hulbert & Berghoff is coordinating workshops for the 2011 INTA Annual Meeting. Last week, Jim invited me to speak. He sat through this morning’s workshop and, immediately after it ended, we began brainstorming about my topic for 2011.